Anne Douglas Sedgwick was an American-born British writer. The daughter of a businessman, she was born in Englewood, New Jersey

Englewood, New Jersey

Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...

 but at age nine her family moved to London. Although she made return visits to the United States, she lived in England for the remainder of her life.

In 1908, she married the British essayist and journalist, Basil de Sélincourt

Basil de Sélincourt

Basil de Sélincourt was a British essayist and journalist.In 1902 he married the orientalist Beryl de Zoete, but the marriage failed, and in 1908 he married the writer Anne Douglas Sedgwick .-Works:*Giotto...

. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 she and her husband were volunteer workers in hospitals and orphanages in France.

Her novels explored the contrast in values between Americans and Europeans. He best-sellin novel Tante was made into a 1918 film, The Impossible Woman and The Little French Girl into a 1925 film of the same name. In 1931, she was elected to the United States National Institute of Arts and Letters

The American Academy of Arts and Letters

The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member honor society; its goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Located in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan in New York, it shares Audubon Terrace, its Beaux Arts campus on...

. Four of her books were on the list of bestselling novels in the United States for 1912, 1924, 1927, and 1929 as determined by the New York Times.

Anne Douglas Sedgwick died in Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

, England in 1935. The following year her husband published "Anne Douglas Sedgwick: A Portrait in Letters."

Bibliography:

• The dull Miss Archinard (1898)
• The confounding of Camelia (1899)
• The Rescue (1902)
• Paths of Judgement (1904)
• The Shadow of Life (1906)
• A Fountain Sealed (1907)
• Valerie Upton (1908)
• Amabel Channice (1908)
• Franklin Winslow Kane (1910)
• Tante (1912) – No.9 for the year in the U.S.
• The Nest (collection of short stories) (1913)
• The Encounter (1914)
• A Childhood in Brittany Eighty Years Ago (nonfiction) (1919)
• The Third Window (1920)
• Adrienne Toner (1922)
• The Little French Girl (1924) – No.3 for the year in the U.S.
• The Old Countess (1927) – No.9 for the year in the U.S.
• Dark Hester (1929) – No.3 for the year in the U.S.
• Philippa (1929)

External links